Last day in Sydney

On such a last day somewhere, one should also take different paths than usual... I thought and went to the hairdresser today.

You might think that this is too precious time for vacation, but many years ago I learned from a journalist (who always went to the hairdresser first on vacation) that you always get into conversation with people there and if you're lucky, you also get a great haircut. Everything worked out: at 10:30 am I had an appointment at Surry Hills Cutters, was greeted by a purple dyed dreadlock poodle who wanted to be petted extensively (got it) and then I got an amazing haircut while chatting (the neighbor of the girlfriend of a customer caught burglars by hitting them with her car... and how nice it is that the color gray is out of fashion again... and that the hairdresser's sister lives in Baden Baden (I didn't even know there was one in Austria)...). My hairdresser in Berlin will probably be shocked... doesn't matter!

Today Ursula and Matthes quickly visited St. Mary's Cathedral from the inside (Tony sang in the choir there) and I took a tour of the Opera House. Impressive building that we unfortunately had to rush through in 55 minutes. It's especially impressive because the architect (Jørn Utzon from Denmark) submitted his design without consulting any structural engineers beforehand to see if it was even structurally possible (3 years later he figured it out...).

Tonight we did something great: the Sydney Symphony Orchestra gave a free open-air concert called 'symphony under the stars' and we were there with a picnic and everything (like thousands of others). And to top it all off, there was a small fireworks display - the perfect ending!